ArticleThe journal of headache and pain2020
Mid- to late-life migraine diagnoses and risk of dementia: a national register-based follow-up study.
Article in The journal of headache and pain, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chronic Pain and the Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Pooled it
- Relationship Between Migraine and Alzheimer's Disease: A Study of Mendelian Randomization.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled it
- Is headache a risk factor for dementia? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Pooled it
- Association between migraine and cognitive impairment.The journal of headache and pain · 2022Pooled it
- Migraine and the risk of dementia: a meta-analysis and systematic review.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Pooled it
- Association of Headache Disorders and the Risk of Dementia: Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Migraines and the association of cognitive impairment: a one- and two-sample mendelian randomization analysis.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Does high aura frequency in migrainous healthcare workers point out underestimated migraine aura in the general population?Acta neurologica Belgica · 2026Article
- Migraine and the Risk of Dementia in the General Population.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Post-infection sequelae of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases-a nationwide Danish study with 40-month follow-up.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cognitive dysfunction during mild to moderate migraine attacks: potential implications for presenteeism.BMC neurology · 2026Article
- The association between frailty and headache in middle-aged and older individuals: a data analysis based on the GBD2021, the CHARLS and Mendelian randomization.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2026Article
- Cohort profile and representativeness of participants in the Danish monozygotic twin study on migraine.European journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Migraine with and without aura-two distinct entities? A narrative review.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Detection of cognitive deficits years prior to clinical diagnosis across neurological conditions.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Genetic evidence for causal association between migraine and dementia: a mendelian randomization study.BMC medical genomics · 2024Article
- Mind the Metabolic Gap: Bridging Migraine and Alzheimer's disease through Brain Insulin Resistance.Aging and disease · 2024Review
- Genetic evidence for the causal relationships between migraine, dementia, and longitudinal brain atrophy.The journal of headache and pain · 2024Article
- Association between chronic pain and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of ageing · 2024Review
- Independent causal effect of migraines on Alzheimer's disease risk: a multivariate Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies found an association between migraine and dementia, which are two leading causes of disability. However, these studies did not differentiate between migraine types and did not investigate all prevalent dementia subtypes. The main objective of this national register-based study was to investigate whether migraine was a risk factor for dementia. Additionally, we explored potential differences in dementia risk for migraine with and without aura.
methodsWe obtained data on birth cohorts born between 1935 and 1956 (n = 1,657,890) from Danish national registers. Individuals registered with migraine before age 59 (n = 18,135) were matched (1:5) on sex and birthdate with individuals without migraine (n = 1,378,346). Migraine was defined by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnoses and dementia was defined by ICD diagnoses and anti-dementia medication. After matching, 62,578 individuals were eligible for analysis. For the statistical analyses, we used Cox regression models and adjusted for socio-demographic factors and several psychiatric and somatic morbidities.
resultsDuring a median follow-up time of 6.9 (IQR: 3.6-11.2) years, 207 individuals with migraine developed dementia. Compared with individuals without migraine, we found a 50% higher rate of dementia among individuals with migraine (HR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.28-1.76). Individuals without aura had a 19% higher rate of dementia (HR = 1.19; 95% CI: 0.84-1.70), and individuals with aura had a two times higher rate of dementia (HR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.48-3.00).
conclusionsOur findings support the hypothesis that migraine is a midlife risk factor for dementia in later life. The higher rate of dementia in individuals with a hospital-based diagnosis of migraine with aura emphasizes the need for studies on pathological mechanisms and potential preventative measures. Furthermore, given that only hospital-based migraine diagnoses were included in this study, future research should also investigate migraine cases derived from the primary healthcare system to include less severe migraine cases.
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